KPBS Midday Edition

Kids ages 5-through-11 years old are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine boosters as infection rates are increasing again nationwide. Then, the pandemic may change the way large buildings are designed to prevent airborne diseases from spreading. Next, after a series of appeals, one murder conviction set aside, an audit finding sloppy work by the San Diego crime lab, an intervention from an innocence...

President Joe Biden on Tuesday called the shooting over the weekend in Buffalo, New York domestic terrorism and spoke about the dangers of white supremacy. But this is not a new problem. The alarms have been ringing for years. Then, a judge in Los Angeles struck down California’s Women on Corporate Boards law saying it violated the equal protection clause in the state constitution. Many lawmakers...

People across the nation are coming together to fight against violent hate crimes, including here in San Diego. A vigil protest against gun violence and white supremacy is being held Monday night at the Balboa Park fountain. Then, carbon capture, removing excess carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere, is essential to the latest climate report from the United Nations and is an essential eleme...

Overdose deaths in the U.S. reached a grim new record, according to new figures released earlier this week. How is this impacting San Diego County? Plus, the “godmother of air medical services in San Diego” shares what it’s like to be a flight nurse. And finally, weekend preview details visual art, experimental ballet and other arts and culture events happening this weekend in San Diego.

A federal appeals court struck down a state law prohibiting the sale of semi-automatic rifles to people under the age of 21. The law passed shortly after the 2019 Poway Synagogue shooting. Then, a national baby formula shortage is a serious issue for some San Diego families. And, two more journalists were killed in Mexico this week bringing the total deaths to 11 this year. The murders are rarely...

An ex-caregiver and convicted sex offender pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting two women in San Diego area nursing homes. Meanwhile, the California Air Resources board has just released an updated roadmap on how the state can achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. Also, COVID-19 cases seem to be on the rise again, both across the United States and here in San Diego County. In response, the B...

The county is proposing to provide on-site homeless resources including behavioral health services and public benefits assistance to any city in the region that builds new shelters. Then, despite upgrades to the state’s power grid, California energy officials say there’s a potential for energy shortfalls that could lead to power outages this summer. Next, Assembly District 80 is up for grabs on Ju...

Most San Diego police officers who requested COVID vaccine exemptions due to their religious beliefs gave heartfelt reasons for their requests. But were they genuine? Also, the chair of the San Diego Democratic Party is taking a leave of absence while assault allegations against him are investigated. Then, due to an increasingly severe drought that’s drastically reduced the sierra snowpack, wateri...

State lawmakers have come out in force this week to voice their support for abortion rights in California. In addition to a package of 13 new bills aimed at strengthening reproductive rights, there’s now a push for a state constitutional amendment enshrining a woman’s right to choose in California. State Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins from San Diego has been in the forefront of many of those...

Pandemic restrictions are easing as summer approaches, a new highly infectious omicron subvariants emerge and the U.S. marks 1 million COVID-19 deaths, where are we in the progress of the disease. Plus, how raising the interest rate fights inflation and what it means for you. Meanwhile, the San Diego police union is blaming the rise in crime at city parks on police funding cuts and accuses San Die...

San Diego Planned Parenthood officials say they are getting ready for an influx of women from other states coming to California if abortion is banned by the U.S. Supreme Court. After, while a proposal to mandate treatment for severely mentally ill people is making the rounds in Sacramento, two San Diego City Council members are proposing a local effort to mandate care for some homeless people. And...

The Supreme Court is reportedly poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. The court confirmed the authenticity of a leaked draft majority opinion which reads in part, quote: “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.'' Then, people in long-term immigration detention in San Diego County can now get free legal assistance through a new county...

An investigation alleges that fossil fuel companies have long known that messaging to consumers about individual responsibility for climate change is misleading and inaccurate. Next, California is now offering Medi-Cal coverage to older, lower-income residents who do not have U.S. citizenship. Then, hate incidents are on the rise in San Diego, but hate crimes are notoriously difficult to prosecute...

The stabbing of a 16-year-old Black girl in Lakeside earlier this month highlighted frustration around unchecked racism in East County. And change is coming to California’s rooftop solar market, but when it arrives and what it will look like is a closely guarded secret. Plus, for our weekend arts preview, we have a new Broadway-bound musical, botanical designs at the San Diego Museum of Art and pl...

Moderna applied for emergency use authorization from the FDA for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for children six months to five years old. And it has been four months since a federal lawsuit forced the Biden Administration to bring back a controversial Trump-era Remain in Mexico asylum program, also known as Migration Protection Protocols. Plus, starting May 1, people 18 and younger across San Diego Co...

The U.S. is out of the pandemic phase of COVID-19, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci. Plus, California residents who are members of federally recognized Native American tribes, will soon be eligible for a tuition-free college education at University of California schools. After, comments from a federal judge have put plans to end Title 42 – a controversial Trump-era asylum policy – in limbo. Meanwhil...

Changes by the Biden administration meant to make it easier for Ukranians to enter the United States have had the opposite effect for those stuck in Tijuana. Plus, the controversy over racially insensitive comments made by the San Dieguito Union High School District's superintendent is taking on a new dimension. Then, San Diego will soon join a growing number of California cities that prohibit ret...

As San Diego grapples with how to connect its unsheltered population with services and housing, complex questions have to be asked: What role should conservatorship laws play in helping the hardest-to-reach homeless individuals? What are the best strategies for reducing the number of people living on the street and into housing? How can you find permanent housing for so many people in one of the l...

On Earth Day, a look at San Diego's zero waste policy — the city’s goal to recycle, reuse and stop generating waste by the year 2040. Plus, besides a restaurant and urban garden, the business model of the nonprofit MAKE Projects in North Park is a job training center for refugees and immigrants. And it’s already making a difference. Finally, this weekend in the arts: Black Artist Collective at The...

A report published by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows a world on track to push past the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark. While the IPCC is calling on political leaders to act on a national and international scale, the report authors said that work at the local level is also critical. In recent years, there’s been a shift in perspective on who is truly responsible for th...

Community members attending a meeting in Lakeside said an attack on a 16-year-old Black girl is yet another example of unchecked racism in East County. Next, San Diego’s probation department has been violating state regulations that protect juvenile offenders. Later, U.S. inflation rates are the highest they’ve been in 40 years. And in an already high-priced city like San Diego, that inflation pin...

Traveling in and around the country looks a lot different today than it did yesterday. Following a Florida federal judge’s ruling striking down the federal transportation mask mandate, airlines including Southwest, American Delta, United and others are making masking optional on domestic flights. Next, 25 years after the present Mission Bay drive bridge was described as “functionally deficient and...

On Friday, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria unveiled next year’s city budget, signaling a shift away from pandemic emergency planning. Next, antiviral treatments to help fight serious COVID-19 disease were once very hard to access. But now as COVID-19 cases start to decrease in San Diego, are there enough doses? After, Sempra Energy, the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric, paid out its highest...

While efforts to quickly move Ukrainian refugees through the border have been praised, it has also highlighted the difficulties of non-Ukrainian migrants at the border who have waited far longer for a chance at asylum. Plus, 1½ years ago, San Diego approved “Complete Communities,” a program that allows developers to build apartments near public transit with unlimited density and unlimited height....

Law enforcement leaders are touting new guidelines for San Diego police agencies to investigate each other’s police shootings and in-custody deaths as a step toward more independent oversight. But some advocates of police reform worry that the changes will not go far enough to ensure transparency. And, San Diego is one step closer to realizing one of its biggest public transportation goals. The ci...